Iris device firm EyeLock has received a patent for mobility identity platforms it has developed.

In a statement, the company announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 9,626,563. The patent broadly covers mobility identity platforms and represents the company's 46th issued patent.

"Our latest patented invention helps provide a fast and easy user experience by using the opportunistic acquisition of a sequence of images to select a limited number of images with the best iris-related quality metrics to hold in memory for further processing," said Jim Demitrieus, CEO of EyeLock. "Once the images are selected, our algorithms immediately create a template which is then used for matching and recognition."

Mr. Demitrieus noted that this solution is useful in mobile applications, for example, where devices are often memory-limited, and image quality is often affected by motion-blur and eye-blinking at the instant of acquisition.

In summary, the patented mobility identity platform:

provides opportunistic acquisition of a number of iris images from which a limited number of images that each meets a quality threshold is stored or maintained for further processing;

does not require autofocus functions that often trail user movements and fail to achieve good image focus;

evaluates acquired images in real-time to select those that feature sufficiently exposed and in-focus irises;

dynamically acquires more images if prior images are of insufficient quality;

supports mobile or other applications where biometric acquisition may coincide with eye-blinking or is susceptible to motion blur due to user movements at the instant of acquisition; and

supports applications where device memory available for holding images is often limited.

The company said the patented solution is "the most recent example of how EyeLock has achieved significant technological breakthroughs and solved integration challenges that have historically been a barrier to mass-market adoption of iris authentication technology".